Mehmet Aksoy, who was working as a press officer for a Kurdish military force, was reportedly killed during an IS attack in Raqqa.

07:20, UK,Thursday28September2017

Image:A friend says Mehmet Aksoy was 'loved by everybody'

A British film-maker is believed to have been killed by Islamic State in Syria.

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It is understood Mehmet Aksoy, who grew up in England, joined a Kurdish military force called The People's Defence Units (YPG) to work as a press officer.

The YPG website said the 32-year-old was killed on Tuesday morning after an IS attack while he was on duty in Raqqa.

Mr Aksoy was the founder and editor-in-chief of Kurdish Question, which examines the problems of the Kurdish people and other ethnic groups.

The website said he had been educated in film-making at university and had produced short films and poetry during his career.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria. As all UK consular services are suspended in Syria, it is extremely difficult to confirm the whereabouts and status of British nationals in the country."

Aladdin Sinayic, a close friend of Mr Aksoy's from London, told the BBC: "Mehmet never fought, the plan was never to fight.

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"He told me there are better ways. He wanted to tell the stories of the fighters there, he had so much respect for them, and Mehmet was loved by everybody."

It is believed Mr Aksoy is the fifth British citizen to die while working alongside the Kurds in Syria.

Luke Rutter, from Birkenhead, was killed in Raqqa on 5 July - and former chef Ryan Lock, from West Sussex, shot himself to avoid falling captive to IS last December.

Dean Evans, 22, a dairy farmer from Reading, died in the city of Manbij in July 2016,

Former Royal Marine Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, from South Yorkshire, died in the northern village of Tel Khuzela in March 2015.